Neighborhood meeting April 23

A community meeting, sponsored by The Pine Hills blog and journalism students at The College of Saint Rose, will take place later this month at the Western Avenue library branch.

The event will be held at the Pine Hills library on Tuesday, April 23. Community members have the opportunity to voice their opinions, thoughts, and concerns about the Pine Hills neighborhood.

“There’s always something new to learn about, and I hope that as the blog continues, the Saint Rose journalism students keep delving into the interesting news happening in our neighborhood,” said Leah Golby, a Common Council member from 10th ward, who represents the majority of the Pine Hills neighborhood.

Golby sees the Pine Hills Blog as a key member of the Pine Hills community.

“The student reporters at the Pine Hills blog are doing a great job telling important stories of our neighborhood and our city,” said Golby.

Council members like Golby often field calls from residents about problems with traffic, roads, properties, and quality of life in the neighborhood.

The goal for The Pine Hills Blog community meeting is to help inform residents and interested people about what is happening in their community and to collect ideas. The Pine Hills blog provides information about the happenings in and around the Pine Hills neighborhood.

Virginia Hammer, a member of the Pine Hills Neighborhood Association, said the Pine Hills Blog is a very good source and the students at The College of Saint Rose do a good job writing stories.

“Many things have been covered, but there are many other stories that are interesting,” said Hammer. “If you can give us a sense of the kinds of things you’re looking for, we can help you out.”

Hammer said she really likes seeing the Pine Hills Blog holding another meeting.

“Everything you guys do is amazing,” said Hammer. “We really appreciate it.”

The meeting will be beneficial to the neighborhood and the blog, said Anton Konev, a council member from the 11th ward, which includes part of the neighborhood.

“Getting neighbors involved in reporting about their neighborhood can both generate more and better stories and raise the awareness about blog,” said Konev.

Michael Huber, interactive audience manager for timesunion.com grew up in the Pine Hills neighborhood. He believes that the blog is good for the community.

“The Pine Hills blog is a real-world example of how Saint Rose students are using technology and online media to cover their community,” said Huber. “They offer a hyper-local approach to coverage of the college’s surrounding community that serves its residents well. In some ways, the blanket coverage of Pine Hills is better than it had been in the heyday of newspapers.”

There are multiple ways for people to bring issues to light such as calling and e-mailing their council members, petitioning, or attending and speaking at the common council meetings.

“They already have direct access to their legislators,” said Jim Sano, Council Member of the 9th ward. “They have Neighborhood Associations, they can come to City Hall and have an open microphone for up to five minutes, I don’t think they have a lack of access to make their points of view known.”

All are welcome to attend the meeting which begins at 7 p.m. Light refreshments will be available starting at 6:30 p.m. The Pine Hills library is located at 517 Western Ave.